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460 swap!

57K views 110 replies 29 participants last post by  reptillikus 
#1 ·
Yeah, looks like its happening. Been looking on/off for a 351 for my dad's truck since he needs a motor, and ended up finding a 460/C6 combo (w/ harness & ECM), so i bought that instead. Plan is to drop the 460/C6 in my truck, then put my 351 in his truck, and i guess sell my small block C6.

Mess of stuff in the bed of my truck


Stainless headers, w/stainless ARP bolts holdin em in place.


Ive never seen headers like this before, the d.side wraps down under the engine behind the pan. Its designed to bolt up the factory dual-inlet cat.




Extra crap i dont need (egr, alt, smog pump, all other emissions crap)



I got a set of towers out of a junkyard so i can run stock motor mounts.






Also got a saginaw off a 460 van, thought i had a pic of that but i guess not. Ill get one when i put it on the motor.


So heres the plan. the motor ran strong when the truck was cut up so im not going to do anything to it other than change a couple seals, and clean up the valve covers & pan. Swap my 3G on, add a Saginaw, and eliminate the emissions.
Heres the fun part. My truck is an 88, and the engine is an 89. Unfortunately, 88 has a bastard harness, the 89-91 harness is different. So i have a lot of wiring to do. The engine harness is in good shape, the main control harness (the harness that connects the motor to the ECM, and connects to the lights/ starter relay etc) was butchered when the motor/tranms was pulled. Now, i saved the control harness from my p/u cab since it wasnt compatable with my truck (cab is a 90), so it looks like ill be using that harness instead of my 88. But this means i must change all the connectors that go from the control harness to the chassis harness. This is the easiest way to make it all work i think. So tomorrow im going to the junkyard to either find a 88 460 to steal the engine harness off of (what are the odds of that?), or im chopping up a junkyard 89-91 harness to get the connectors i need to retrofit mine.
 
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#33 ·
Getting ready. A buddy of mine came by to lend a hand getting this beast in!



We had to drop down to wood blocks to get it low enough, and then we ended up having to unbolt the cab mounts and jack it up 4" to get it to clear.



After several hours, motor/trans are now in :rockon




Nice beefy motor mounts


Some clearance issues. Header is pushing on fuel filter heat shield & fuel lines. Heat shield is pushing on trans shift linkage. I have temporalily removed the heat shield, ill deal with everything else soon.


Remote oil filter/oil cooler bracket. Does not clear frame. Apparently the big block trucks have a bigass hole in the frame to clear the bracket & filter. There is no good way i can clock this thing, where the filter & the oil cooler lines will be free of obstruction, so im going to replace it with an aftermarket remote filter housing and not run the oil cooler. Or, cut a big hole in the engine xmember, which i dont really want to do. (link to pic, from Justshootme84)




I tapped the port for the EGR, and screwed a plug in to seal it off.



I also got the cab bolted back down, trans shift linkages done, trans lines re-installed, vacuum line for the modulator, kickdown cable, throttle cable, and all the vacuum for the motor done (except for the FPR) :rockon



Ok, now ive got a question for yall.
So, low pressure fuel pump in tank, high pressure on frame. Well, the 90 p/u tank i have been running out back for the last several years, is from the single tank system so its high pressure. See any reason i still need the frame pump then? If i can eliminate that, i can move the filter down where it is and reroute the fuel lines, which will get everything far away from the header.
 
#38 ·
Im gonna run a single 3" down the passenger side. Believe it or not (as i dont have a great pic), but that odd header clears everything




I already had the pan down and put a new one on, not sure what happened to that pic but i mustve forgot to upload it. Plenty of room to work on it under there. Plan is to have a y-pipe built right after the 90º, and then go 3" up a bit, and straight back. More or less the same way my old exhaust was routed. If i didnt have these headers already id have considered duals, but with the front drive shaft & the anti-wrap bar on the driver side, theres not much room for anything over there.


I had contact with that heat shield as well, and it currently is not on.

I ran a remote filter as well on mine.
No issues with heat from the exhaust? It is pretty damn close to the header.




With a high pressure pump in the tank that's all you should need. You don't want to run the high pressure pump in the tank to feed the high pressure pump on the frame. I assume all your lines are high pressure??
Yeah the truck has high pressure lines in both directions all the way from the tank. i figured i could remove it w/o issue, just never did. So my truck has had dual high pressure pumps since 2005 :toothless But thats good, that means i can slide the fuel filter down where that pump is now, and run the fuel lines up the bell out of the way of the exhaust.
 
#36 ·
I can't wait to hear this thing roar man... I'll have to come out to the next rausch trip your going to be at just so I can ride in your contraption.

I dread wiring and cant stand it. I can never get it to look right, and almost always screw something up.... Cudos on you for doing an awesome job.

Wanna make a wiring harness for my light bar and bumper lights? lol
 
#45 ·
frame mounted pump removed


While the frame was exposed, i took the opportunity to properly remove some wires, specifically for the original tcase, the HCU for the ABS, and the fuel pump


fuel filter relocated back where the pump used to be


The original fuel feed line to the rail, i was able to reuse. The original return line was ~8" too long, so i had to cut it down, but now it all fits up there nicely, and its all far far away from the exhaust :thumbup
 
#50 ·
I didnt get a chance to mess with it today. Ill test it tomorrow, and then PM ya :thumbup

Damn rain kept me from getting much done today.






That said.....progress pics!

My 200 amp 3G installed. Fits with no mods.


Saginaw pump, and my York setup off the 351.


Front clip!


...but wait, whats this?


The intake just touches the hood when its closed. However, it looks like i can drop the pump a ½" just by redrilling my bracket. Might be able to go ¾". Im gonna drop it as much as i can, and if i dont like it, make a new one.


Starting to look like a truck again!




I didnt think i was gonna get the front clip on today. It was raining pretty hard, but it slowed down a bit, right when a buddy stopped by :rockon So he helped me set it in place before leaving. After i got the clip bolted up, i put the hood on by myself, which isnt easy! Fortunately, the body is so thrashed that i dont need to have everything aligned perfectly, just 'good enough' :toothless

Tomorrow im going to modify the York bracket, and then probably start installing the wiring, and hooking up the radiator & coolers. Theres still tons of stuff to do under the hood, plus i need to reinstall the doubler + mounts, dshafts, & my anti-wrap bar + xmember. Also want to throw in new shocks & bump stops up front.
 
#57 ·
Looking good!

Jealous of your skills.
This kind of stuff is second nature to me, been doin it since i was old enough to turn a wrench. Plus, i really want to get it done before winter finally sets in :toothless

At this rate if you finish it up today you can make the Snow Run at Rausch tomorrow! lol :thumbup
:rofl:
Im movin fast, but not that fast!
Working 3rd shift has its advantages; i get to wrench on the truck every day while you suckers are at work :goodfinge

There wont be any progress over the weekened, but ill start back up on it monday morning.
 
#55 ·
i did a 88 to a 93 conversion once 351 t o460 i retrofited the 93 dash into my 88 took all the wire hassles out of the way took some cutting welding and cussing lol but eneded up with a 93 crew cab 4x4 6 inch lift 460 fi on a 88 body was alot of fun exept for the city complining about all the parts im yard lol
 
#56 ·
Haha, yeah, my neighbors are all gearheads like me (well, maybe not exactly like me, lol), so they could care less what i do. Actually, one of them came over today to help :thumbup

So yeah, more progress!!!

I whipped up a half ass bracket for the floor jack, that ended up working really well


So we put the doubler back in


yes its welded to the cup, that was an extra one i have


Then while Mike was installing the doubler mounts, i did some wiring harness work.
The 'secondary' harness, which is for the injectors, TPS, ECT & IAC


and the main control harness + ECM installed




then we installed the anti-wrap bar + xmember, and both driveshafts. So we got lots done today :rockon




Things left to do:
  • make new york bracket
  • measure for serp belts
  • install starter
  • finish hooking up wiring at starter/relay
  • find the plastic things that hold the headlights in, lost em :duh
  • make some minor wheel well mods, and reinstall them
  • reinstall the wiring harness for all my extra stuff (oba/arb/fan/etc)
  • collector gaskets are a weird size, i am making them since i cant find the right ones
  • hook up radiator, trans cooler & p.steering cooler
  • change trans filter
  • remote oil filter for motor
  • new exhaust system
  • air box
  • install plug wires
  • put oil in engine/trans/steering, and fire it up!
 
#59 ·
Small block starter on left, big block on right


Ford Racing 9mm wires


Ok, this was a WTF? moment. This is the wire for the 02 sensor. Instead of running down the bellhousing, Ford wanted the wire to run down the wheel well, inside the same loom that the starter's power cable runs through. So, in order to get there, this is the path it had to take:




Heres the full length of it. Stupid long!


Ford actually added an extension to the wire to make it longer, but both ends of it are female, meaning if you remove it, you cant plug in the O2 sensor. SO the obvious thing to do, is splice a female plug onto the end of the first harness, and delete the extension.


That was a simple one. I chose to keep the main cable the same length it was before.


Heres why: the first cable, all by itself, was the perfect length. Dunno what Ford was thinking when they laid it out the other way.


I also hooked up the radiator, trans cooler & power steering cooler. Got a shorter belt for the alt since the smog pump is gone, and put the a/c delete pulley on so i could put the orig belt back on there. I have to get a different York, i have a left hand suction and need a right hand suction so i can lay the York over in the horizontal position so it will clear the hood. I rerouted the ARB & axle vent lines so theyre not so close to the header, and reinstalled a ton more wiring. Also hooked up the trans vent since i forgot to do that.
 
#61 ·
I hope to have it running monday :rockon




Got a little bit done yesterday.

Reinstalled the doubler shifters, and added a tab to help keep the bolt from working loose


Fenderwells reinstalled, with a little mod for more airflow


99% of the wiring done, just got to hook up elec fan & OBA


My airbox situation. Cant reuse the stock box, no room for it with the wheel wells tubbed. Still working on this one.


Today im going to drop the trans pan & change the filter, then i can fill it up. Hook up lower rad hose, and fill that up too. Have to add fluid to the power steering too. I need to lay my York over to clear the hood but i have the wrong one, so i need to go junkyard hopping for one. I can whip a bracket up for it using mine as a template, but cant use mine so in the mean time im running the a/c idler pulley in its place. I need to put the manifold back in, thatll happen today too.

Had to order remote oil filter brackets, wont be here till friday. Once they arrive and i set that up, i can start the truck :rockon
 
#63 ·
Thanks. I get close to 4 hours a day to work on it, more if i dont have to work that night. Plus i tried to make sure i had as many parts as possible ahead of the time, so i wouldnt have any delays. I goofed on the oil filter mount (thought the stock one would fit), but for the most part, everything else has gone pretty smoothly.
 
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